Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-12-05
RELIGIOUS REv1vALs
Abstract from Rev. Mr.. rhacher. Gar
mon

Inc following is an abstract of Rev. Mr..
inacher's sermon upon Genuine and SIM.
fions kevisals of Religion" Text, Jer. 5-sl
gu who have watched the dawn of day
nave seon parable illustrating Gods ways
WIN man. No ear can detect even the faint
est sound as the light melts across the sky. and
breaks into ripples of amber and gold. God
Is III the quiet influences which are working
upon US without any audible token of their
presence. There are no doubt epochs when
ene greatness OF life flashes upon US, and our
VISION Is widened, our minds filled with higher
thoughts and quicker moral pulse ,hrobs
through our purposes. When the beauty of
the world looks in az US with glance divine.
and the fragrant breath of the trees and flow
ers stlrs our senses and the serenity of the
SKY smiles upon Us. there come glimpses of
me OF purer love, of nobler possibilities.
ana all things seem tremulous with the
tender presence of God. We pray and strive
Tor such REVEALS. But the best things NAV
De abused People do things that bring re-
iisioh INTO contempt. When church falls
INTO lethargic condition. and the minister
Is unable to interest the people professional
reFlvaiist Is sent for---to work I'D short
spasm of excitement. His effort seems To
clothe religion with new energy, but it is
lhe energy OF delirum, soon spent, and which
leaves deep exhaustion. People cool Just
as fast a. they warm. If a tree does not
grow by the forces at work within itself
1t cannot appropriate moisture, air, or light
and so dies. If church does not grow by
the spiritual forces at work in its members
no application Of igious electric battery
can make ii grow. The appeal to the sensuous
Is the sure sign of decayed and declining
faith
The revival system places God at a distance
from our ordinary life and conditions His
blessings on the amount of our fatterv. tears
ana prayers. 4 God who is not ever touch
ing our spirits, moving us TO penitence and
prayer and drawing our thoughts TO Himself
Is no God---only an image conjured up by the
imagination and but little better than the
painted idol of a savage.
ReYIYals encourage groundless hopes, CEN
seriousness, fanaticlsm, and false standards
of life They do violence to those sacred
feelings which are the safeguards and
beauty of character. They divert the atten-
ton to bodily service, from what alone is
of acknowledged importance. They induce
good men to resort TO trickery, manpuvre
and dishonest representations They often
'N'''Ni'N' ist"a uN-
ciarea that' during REVEALS, the devil imposes
On the oeSt men using the friends of REVEALS
even more than the enemies, as his lnstru-
hehts. ne Mass Convention of Pastors"
once ADVISED their bretheren to guard
against the intrusions of itinerant ex-
horters. DR.. Reed. thorough Calyinist
rpeaking of revivais says THE effect on the
church, is to fill it with ignorant, and pre-,
sumptuons persons and to produce detection
on the one hand, and corruption ON the other. "
Presbyterian divine thus warns the churches
you are IN more danger from these coadju-
TORS these revival leaders, than from all
other quarters put together. Yet revivals
are called the work OF God
When we consider the human machinery
employed to get up revival, the loud herald
sacrifices, the preparation of the people to be
acted upon by the contagion of popular
i.e'ns' '.e aItlhees ea'ch
and create ;mnre ssnns tho natbet;c
exhortations, the melting cadences, the lurid
mythology, the sensational rhetoric, we see